


sangfroid

by neroh



Series: a moth to flame [1]
Category: Bourne (Movies), Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014)
Genre: Character Study, Gen, Mission Fic, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-16
Updated: 2017-01-16
Packaged: 2018-09-17 20:13:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9341372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neroh/pseuds/neroh
Summary: Consistency is something Kirill has a love-hate relationship with.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to Bre for betaing this! You're the best.

Consistency is something Kirill has a love-hate relationship with.

He is consistently a top operative and valuable asset to any assignment he’s been tasked with despite what his former FSB handlers might say. Kirill is thorough, communicative, punctual, and, most importantly, is never compromised.

Even as he travels the world, tailing Jason Bourne until they race their way through Moscow, he never allows his feelings—whatever they might be—to affect the mission. Jason is just another target, another task, another paycheck.

That’s all.

Kirill knows it hadn’t been love between them; affection, yes. Perhaps a bit of fondness, but _never_ the deeper type of entanglement. Emotional attachments are considered a sign of weakness in his old line of work, something Kirill still can’t afford to have.

Jason understood their arrangement; he used to be cut from the same cloth. He allows Kirill to fuck him through the mattress whenever their schedules align. They are just warm bodies to each other, a way to relieve stress until the Wombosi assignment goes to hell and Jason disappears into the ether.

Consistency; conformity in the application of something, typically that which is necessary for the sake of logic, accuracy, or fairness.

Death is a consistent thing in their line of work and so is betrayal, both of which Kirill dislikes to his very core.

Until Pamela Landy finds him recovering in a Moscow hospital, waiting to be released into the police’s custody since his FSB comrades have turned their backs on him. She offers him a way to start over, to do the right thing, he recalls her saying more than once.

He has nothing to lose but whatever’s left of his soul. Even then, Kirill isn’t sure he wants it anymore.

In the end, he leaves with her and her entourage of CIA agents, putting thousands of miles between himself and his motherland. Kirill finds himself bouncing around the globe on her behalf, putting things right and saving people rather than killing them for once. A few missions into his new employment, he’s able to scrutinize his reflection in the mirror for the first time in years.

What stares back is just a man with his face and a network of scars behind his ear. Just a man, not a demon like Kirill expected.

Nearly a decade under Pamela’s guidance passes and Kirill still doesn’t have a home base. He stays in hotels and fit his belongings in a single suitcase. The time to create a place of his own is a luxury he doesn’t have and it suits him just fine.

Besides, he was always taught to keep moving.

That all changes from the moment a dossier on Dr. Jack Ryan crosses over the dining table for him to peruse while Pamela sips her glass of chardonnay.

“He’s one of ours,” she tells him after a while.

Kirill grunts his acknowledgment as he continues to read. Dr. Ryan’s background is impressive; born on May 17, 1980, he is the only child of deceased parents who went from Loyola Blakefield Prep School in Maryland straight to Boston College. His studies at the London School of Economics were interrupted by the September 11th attacks, which prompted him to join the Marine Corps. After a stint at Walter Reed, he ended up finishing his Ph.D. at Georgetown University before being assigned to Wall Street under Thomas Harper.

This man’s entire life—as much as Pamela’s team was able to gather in a short time—lies before him, and yet, it still remains a mystery as to why Kirill’s reading his file. “What did he do?”

“It seems that Dr. Ryan has a talent for analyzing numbers and patterns,” Pamela says. “You’ve heard about Viktor Cheverin?”

He looks up, eyes narrowing at hearing the name. “Da, I have,” Kirill announces, unimpressed. “Backwards thinking; he disliked the oligarchy of our country only because he was not considered one of them. He died a few weeks ago.”

“Dr. Ryan is responsible for that. He uncovered numerous shadow investments under Cheverin’s control that could have led to a staged terrorist attack, followed by a complete financial collapse in this country,” Pamela explains.

A man six years his junior and Jack Ryan has managed to make his mark in the world. “Then he did everyone a favor,” Kirill replies as he sets the dossier down.

Pamela shrugs as she places her glass on the table. She leans closer, the light of the restaurant catching in her blonde hair. “Dr. Ryan will be dead in seventy-two hours if you don’t assemble a team to intercept the sleeper agent sent to kill him in Paris.”

“I understand.”

“It’s his _wife_. Apparently, they’re on a belated honeymoon,” she says, offhandedly.

Kirill winces in sympathy. “ _Bednyaga_ ,” he mutters. “Poor bastard.”

“You’ll be required to accompany him to a safe house for an undetermined amount of time,” Pamela continues once the waiter has set their salad courses in front of them. “It could be weeks, perhaps months before you’re able to come back. Are you up for it?”

He inclines his head for _yes_ ; Kirill is always up for it. After all, Pamela has done plenty for him. “What will you do once we have him?”

“Offer him a choice; disappear or find out who did this.” She daintily spears her salad with a fork and eats it. Dabbing her lips with the cloth napkin draped over her lap, Pamela clears her throat. “We only know the basics—the players involved with the hit, but not who ordered it. The trail goes cold and Dr. Ryan has a knack for piecing these things together. My hope is that he’ll choose wisely.”

Kirill’s lips twitch. “Would you like me to persuade him?”

“If the opportunity strikes.” Pamela knows people and understands their unpredictability and follies; her entire career has been because of this talent. and Kirill respects her for it. In an agency filled with elite minds, she outshines them with her humanity. “He will be distrustful of the entire situation, so tread carefully. Don’t push him unless he needs to be, watch him like a hawk; he’ll probably be suicidal or close to it. Build trust with him, because Dr. Ryan is about to be your new best friend.”

If anything, Kirill is consistently _not_ a people person. He keeps to himself except when Pamela calls upon him for meetings such as this one. The idea of having to seclude himself in a safe house with a virtual stranger who will be reeling from betrayal is laughable. How Kirill will be able to comfort this man, he doesn’t know, but he’ll certainly try.

He opens the dossier, flipping to a page containing a color photograph of Dr. Jack Ryan. Strikingly handsome with hypnotic blue eyes - the bluest Kirill has ever seen. They remind him of the waters off the Savage Islands; aqua, sapphire, navy all mingled together as they crash over reefs hidden under the sea’s depths.

“It seems I have some planning to do,” Kirill tells Pamela.

“And a flight to catch,” she says as she reaches into her purse. Moments later, Pamela produces an airline ticket for one of Kirill’s aliases. “I’ve already alerted our counterparts in Paris - they’re on standby.”

He stands up, taking the ticket with him, and extends his hand to Pamela. “I’ll call you soon.”

“You always do.”

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are always appreciated!


End file.
